The figures in this chart are based on an AVERAGE thickness hair. Thinner hair will have small sized dreadlocks than given with the corrolating section size. Likewise, thicker hair will have larger-sized dreadlocks than given for the corrolating section size. (How do you determine the thickness of your hair? Pull it into a ponytail. How big is the ponytail? If it is between nickel and quarter-sized in circumference the thickness of your hair is approximately average.)
This chart also assumes you are using a sectioning pattern with square sections. If you are using the fan pattern it’s a slightly less precise job of figuring out how big to make the sections. We do a lot by ‘feel’ and ‘intuition’, but we can tell you that if you are trying to determine how large a dreadlock from a section of hair will be, take the straight, undreaded section and twist it tightly. The dreadlock will end up about 30 – 50% larger than the twist. If a couple are a little bigger or a little smaller than what you wanted, don’t fret. Just adjust accordingly with the next section!
|
Section Size
|
Dreadlock Size
|
Total Approx. # of Locks
|
Example Image
|
|
|
1/2″
|
yarn-sized
|
80+
|
 |
|
|
3/4″
|
> chopstick-sized
|
70 – 80
|
 |
|
|
1″
|
pencil-sized
|
60 – 70
|
 |
|
|
1 1/4″
|
pen-sized
|
50 – 60
|
 |
|
|
1 1/2″
|
> sharpee-sized
|
40 – 50
|
 |
|
|
1 3/4″
|
sharpee-sized
|
30 – 40
|
 |
|
|
2″
|
highlighter-sized
|
20 – 30
|
 |
